Weedkiller found in dozens of popular oat-based breakfast foods

A weed-killing chemical found in Roundup — the most commonly used pesticide in the U.S. — is also present in some of the country’s most popular oat-based cereals and snacks, new laboratory tests show.

The herbicide glyphosate, which has been linked to cancer by the World Health Organization, was found in 43 of 45 samples of products made with conventionally grown oats, the nonprofit Environmental Working Group found.

Roughly one third of 16 product samples using organically-grown oats contained traces of glyphosate. Their levels were well below EWG’s health benchmark, according to the report, authored by toxicologist Alexis Temkin.

Last week, a California jury ordered Roundup-maker Monsanto to pay $289 million in damages to a man dying of cancer. He said repeated exposure to the pesticide over years of working as a school groundskeeper caused the disease.

In April, nonprofit US Right to Know obtained emails showing that tests conducted by the Food and Drug Administration revealed “a fair amount” of glyphosate in some foods. However the FDA has not yet released any official results.

Back to Nature Banana Walnut Granola Clusters, Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal, and Quaker Old Fashioned Oats were among the products that contained the highest levels of glyphosate, according to the EWG.